Safety razor



J. MUROS ETAL l SAFETY RAZOR Feb; 22, 1944.

Filed May 15,r 1943 Patented Feb. 22, 1944 SAFETY RAZOR Joseph Muros,Cambridge, and Nicholas Testi, Boston, Mass., .assgnors to GilletteSafety Razor Company, Boston, Mass., a corporation of Delawareapplication May 1a, 194s, serial No. 485,324

tcl. sii-7o) l 6 Claims.

This invention consists in improvements in safety razors facilitatingthe present-ation to the razor of fresh sharp blades while protected bya wrapper or envelope which it is desired to re-vr move only after theblade has been positively and completely located in its shavingposition.

The shaving edge of a thin safetyrazor blade t is brought to such 'ahigh degree of ineness that it is extremely delicate and its keenness islikely to be destroyed if the edge is accidentally drawn across any partof the razor or the blade magazine or even the blade wrapper preparatoryto shaving. Great care and considerable skill is required ordinarily onthe part of the user to extract such a blade from its wrapper andpresent it safely in its shaving position without damage to its edge.The present invention deals with blades of a type which may be protectedat the time of manufacture by being enclosed in a paper wrapper. Thiswrapper overlaps and safeguards the sharp edge or edges of the razorblade and must be removed to make the edge accessible for shaving. Wecontemplate a safetyrazor so organized that the wrapped blade may bedelivered directly thereto in its nal shaving positionv and temporarilyheld as thus positioned while the user has only to strip the wrapperfrom the blade and withdraw it from-the razor, all this being effectedwithout danger and even without the possibility of touching the keencutting edge of the blade.

To this end an important feature of the improved safety razor consistsin a detent or retainer normally blocking the blade passage between theconnected blade-clamping members and arranged to be moved by the user toclear the passage and to be held in inoperative position while a bladeis being presented to or removed from the razor and to automaticallyinterlock with and hold the blade against longitudinal movement whenreleased and while the bladeclamping members are still separated. Theblade is thus positively held in its shaving position and the wrapper orenvelope may be stripped from the blade while so held without any dangerwhatever of Contact with the sharp edge or edges of the blade. Thedetent is arranged thus to engage and hold the blade while theblade-clamping members are spaced from each other and it in no wayinterferes with the subsequent bladeclamping Step.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood andappreciated from the following description of 'a preferred embodimentthereof, selected for purposes of illustration and shown in theaccompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a view of the razor head in longitudinal ysection and on anenlarged scale showing the detent in operative position;

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the detent in inoperative position;

Fig. 3 is a view of the razor head in end elevation;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the guard member showing a protected blade inprocess of presentation; Fig. 5 is a similar view showing the blade inits shaving position and the razor cap partiallyr broken away;

Fig. 6 is a view of the razor head in end elevation, showing the bladeas clamped in shaving position; and

Fig. 7 is a view in side elevation partly in section showing a modiedconstruction.

The invention is not limited to safety razors of any specific type, andwhile it is herein shown as embodied in a razor of the"Gillette type,with suitable modification it is capable of general application. Theillustrated razor comprises a handle including a hollow barrel I rigidlysecured to a tubular head II which is permanently but rotatablyconnected to the guard member I2. This is generally rectangular` inoutline and slotted atwits opposite side to define outwardly anddownwardly curved guard bars I3. The body of the guard is formed with aninner flat surface bounded by parallel fulcrum shoulders I4 over `whichthe blade is flexed in use. It has also a central'longitudinal slot I5which is interrupted by a circular hub portion surrounding the angedupper end of the head I I.

The guard I2 is apertured near one end to receive a blade-retainingdetent having a lower cylindrical portion I6, a constricted neck Il anda cylindrical head I8. The detent is carried by a leaf spring I9 rivetedto thebottom of the guard and yoke-shaped so as to clear the head I I ofthe handle'as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 4. In its normalposition the spring supports the detent with its enlarged head I3projecting above the horizontal blade-supporting surface of the guard inposition to block the presentation of a blade to the razor by endwisemovement upon this surface. The detent may be pressed inwardly so thatthe constricted neck I1 will be located in the position initiallyoccupied by the head I8 as suggested in Fig. 2, this being done by theuser when he desires to present or remove a blade.

The cap member 2D corresponds in contour with the guard and has an innerconcave surface arranged to co-Voperate with vthe fulcrum shoulders I4of theV guard in `:imparting a'transverse curvature to the blade whenthe latter is clamped in shaving position. The cap is provided with alongitudinal rib 2l which fits with clearance into the slot I5 of theguard and is interrupted so that it clears the 'central hub portion ofthe guard and the upper end of the head II. It is also recessed near itsright-hand end, as shown in Fig. 1, to provide an open space for thereception of the detent I6-`-I8. The cap is also provided with acentrally disposed shank 22 which is flattened at its upper end, asshown in Fig. 4, and received within the bore of the head Il. At itslower end the shank is threaded for connection with an internallythreaded Yportion of the head II and provided at its lower end with alimit screw 23 arranged to co-operate with the lower end of the head IIto limit the amount by which the cap and guard may be separated. Theamountof separation is indicated in Fig. 3 from which it will be seenthat in separated condition a blade passage is provided between the capand guardin which a blade or a wrapped blade may be presented endwise infiat condition between these two members. On the other hand, when thehandle 4is rotated the cap is drawn down forcibly by its threadedconnection with the head I I into clamping relation with the guard.

. The blade herein shownas adapted for use with the razor abovedescribed is a double-edged blade notched at each corner to defineelongated unsharpened end portions and is provided with a centrallongitudinal slot opening through its left-hand end. The slot includesspaced diamond-shaped perforations or apertures 21 and has a centralcircular aperture 28 which affords clearance for the shank 22 of the capwhen the blade has been moved fully into its shaving position. AS hereinshown the blade is enclosed in a paper wrapper 26 which is foldedy so asto protect both its cuttingedges and to extend in double thicknesssubstantially beyond the right-hand end of the blade. The wrapper isfolded over the shoulders at one end of the blade so that its edges donot cover the slot or apertures of the blade but leave them fullyexposed. Blades thus protected may be dispensed in book packages suchvas that disclosed in U. S. Letters Patent No. 2,194,281, Gustafson.

Preparatory to the shaving operation a wrapped blade 25 is pushedendwise between the cap and guard members of the safety razor While thelatter are separated as shown in Fig. 2 and while the detent IIS-I8 isheld in its inner or inoperative position by the user. The slotted blademoves forwardly smoothly on both sides of the rib 2| of the cap whileresting upon the flat supporting face of the guard I2. The blade slotnot only aiords clearance for the blade-locating rib 2l but also for theconstricted neck I1 of the detent and the fiat end shank 22 of the cap.The blade encounters no obstruction until it fully arrives in itsshaving position at which time the solid inner end of the blade slotencounters the right-hand end of the blade-locating rib 2I. When thisoccurs the diamond-shaped aperture 21 of the blade is located inregistration with the head I8 of the retaining device. Accordingly, whenthe retaining device is released by the user the spring is free to movethe latter to position its head I8 in the aperture 21 as suggested inFigs. 3 and 5, thus positively interlocking the blade and detent andholding the wrapped blade positively in its shaving position. While theblade is thus held the user is free to remove the wrapper 26 by merelypulling forcibly toward the right. It is thus stripped from the bladeWhile the latter remains positively and accurately positioned by itsengagement with the locating rib 2l and the head I8 of the detent. Thehandle is now rotated to draw the cap 20 into blade-clamping position asshown in Fig. 6 and in this operation the detent occupies its initialposition in interlocking engagement with the blade.

At the conclusion of the shaving operation the handle is rotatedreversely and the cap separated from the guard as far as is permitted bythe limit screw 23. The blade, of course, is positively held during allthis time by the detent. In order to remove the blade the user nowpresses the detent inwardly as suggested in Fig. 2 again bringing theconstricted neck I1 into line with the blade slot whereupon the blade isfree to be withdrawn toward the right or to slip out of the razor by itsown weight if the razor is held on end.

The construction shown in Fig. 7 is similar to that already ldescribedexcept the detent 35 is mounted in the cap :3Q instead of the guard 31.The cap 30 is provided with a blade-locating rib 3| at one side of itsstem and with a recess 32 at the other side of its stem. A leaf spring33 is mounted in the cap and carries a blade-retaining detent having acylindrical head 35 disposed next to the spring 33 and a long atdownwardly projecting shank 36. The guard 31 is provided with anaperture 38 affording free movement of the detent. Initially the detentoccupies the dotted line position shown in Fig. 1 in which itscylindrical head 35 is maintained in blade obstructing orblade-retaining position. The detent may be moved by the user intoblade-receiving position by pressure applied to the end of the shank 3Bbending the spring 33 inwardly and carrying the head 35 of the detentupwardly and out of the blade passage.

Having thus disclosed our invention and described in detail certainillustrative embodiments thereof we claim as new and desire to secure byLetters Patent: l

l. A safety razor having co-operating bladeclamping members,blade-locating means, and spring mechanism normally obstructing thepresentation of a blade endwise between said clamping members, saidmechanism being movable by the user to a non-obstructive position andthereafter movable of itself into interlocking engagement with a bladelocated in the razor in shaving position.

2. A safety razor having co-operating members movable relatively tolclamp or release a slotted blade introduced between them,blade-locating means, and a blade-retaining device having a neck ofreduced dimensions and being movable from a blade-blocking position to aposition in which its neck registers with the blade slot.

3. A safety razor having cap and guard members connected for limitedseparation to provide a blade passage between them, and a spring detentmounted in one member, standing normally 1n said passage opposite to arecess in the other member and movable inwardly by the user into saidrecess to clear the blade passage.

4. A safety razor comprising cap and guard members connected for limitedseparation to provide a blade passage between them, the cap having arecess, and a detent mounted in the guard and having a constricted necknormally maintained out of said blade passage and being constructed andarranged Afor movement into said recess whereby its neck may be locatedin line with the blade passage.

5. A safety razor comprising cap andguard members connected for limitedseparation to admit a blade endwise between them and movableV intoblade-clamping engagement, a blade-locating rib between them, a bladeretaining detent movable transversely of said blade passage and havingenlarged heads separated by a constricted neck, a spring for normallyholding saiddetent With one of said heads in the blade passage, and aWrapped blade having an open-ended slot of Width to receive theconstricted neck of the detent and an aperture shaped tov receive one ofits heads.

automatically interlock with and hold the blade against longitudinalmovement when released.

JOSEPH MUROS. NICHOLAS TESTI.

